I have been on numerous cruises on numerous cruise lines and made many friends among the various crews. So I was interested to see how the crew memberI have been on numerous cruises on numerous cruise lines and made many friends among the various crews. So I was interested to see how the crew members in Mr. Kinser's book see life aboard ship. While I already knew that crew cabins and crew areas are not like the ones we passengers luxuriate in, I was also surprised to learn some the lingo the crew members use. If you want to know what "red alert" means you must read the book - I won't give it away.

The author covers five years of working on board various ships and I was laughing out loud at the descriptions of what some cruise ships try to pass of as decor, reference the Kitty Lounge in this book. Descriptions of food served to the crew is fairly accurate although I have personally heard it isn't as bad as the author would have you believe. But now I know why some of the crew have asked me to smuggle them something from the passenger buffet.

Although six months might not seem long, when they are spent working on a ship they can be the source of cabin fever (or something similar). The fun descriptions carried the book for me and although I also believe a published work can be an author's voice when speaking for the downtrodden (crew), I felt as though it detracted a bit from a 'light-hearted' book.

This book would be a perfect gift for the cruiser in your life....more

Let me begin by saying that I've read quite a lot of books and articles on Titanic. I've seen 'the' movie several times and watched various documentarLet me begin by saying that I've read quite a lot of books and articles on Titanic. I've seen 'the' movie several times and watched various documentaries. I'm always on the lookout for something new or different. I liked that this book was presented from the perspective of a third-class steerage passenger.

We meet seventeen year old Maggie Murphy who is about to embark on her journey to America on Titanic. She doesn't want to leave Ballysheen (her home village) and her boyfriend Seamus. But when her mother passes and her Aunt Kathleen comes from America to collect her, Maggie has no say in the matter. She and her aunt, along with twelve other folk from Ballysheen, decide to travel together. Maggie's friend, the outspoken Peggy Marden, is ready to leave. She dreams of marrying a rich American man and living in a fancy mansion.

The story then switches us to Chicago in 1982 and we meet Grace Butler, a journalism student who sets aside her studies when her father passes so that she can stay home with her mother who is in a deep state of depression. After watching her great-granddaughter give so much of her self to her family, an 87 year-old Maggie decides to open up about that fateful voyage on Titanic. It is Maggie's story that helps Grace get on with her own life, take up her studies once more and reunite with her own boyfriend whom she hasn't seen in over two years.

Maggie's story is moving, especially since her emotions embody those of her fellow travelers. Her realization that she should have stayed in Ballysheen with Seamus are reinforced as Titanic moves further away from Ireland. With her great-granddaughter's help she rediscovers her small travel case that contains two parting gifts from Seamus as well as her journal. Happily Grace writes the story of Maggie's journey on Titanic and it is printed in a prestigious newspaper. It is that article that reunites Maggie with people and artifacts that she thought she had lost long ago.

Although I liked this book overall there were too many similarities to the movie that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet: the narrator was an original Titanic survivor, an old woman; there were scenes that could have been lifted in their entirety from the movie, i.e., the lowering of the lifeboats; and I won't give any spoilers but the ending of the story was quite similar to the end of the movie (other than the ship sinking). Because the story has become over-told I suppose that all of these scenes could overlap in the various re-tellings. I did like the detail behind the New Yorkers who waited for word of their loved ones and the hospital scenes with young Maggie.

If you are fascinated by the Titanic story, you'll like this book. Worth reading for the differing point of view and the story of the folk from Ballysheen which is based on the true story of the Irish folk who made the journey....more

A pirate captain with a crew of pirates looking to give up their wayward life and settle down; a ship of female convicts bound for Australia and shephA pirate captain with a crew of pirates looking to give up their wayward life and settle down; a ship of female convicts bound for Australia and shepherded by a crusading English lady; a not-so-bright idea by said pirate captain of capturing the female convicts and providing brides for his crew - all together a recipe for disaster. Or so some would think.

I enjoyed this story for its escapism mostly. I didn't find it overly romantic in spite of the fact that said Captain Horn spent a lot of his time shirtless. It seemed strange to me that any pirate, even one trying to woo a female convict, would put aside his gruff ways and court said female convict(s). The heroine, Miss Sara Willis, was a bit too demanding for my tastes. She seemed to keep wanting more and more concessions before she would acquiese to the Captain.

A nice change of pace, though, from the usual swashbuckler or Regency period romance.

Every young man growing up in the late 1800s in Brooks Harbor, Maine normally follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather when choosing a lEvery young man growing up in the late 1800s in Brooks Harbor, Maine normally follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather when choosing a life path. Sammy Jones can't wait to sign on to a ship that plies the watery trade routes. Albert Miller, Sammy's friend, feels there is more to life than farming the land. Although Albert doesn't know what trade he wants to follow he knows that he loves Sarah Dyer. In an attempt to earn fast money to get them started in life, he too takes to the sea. What follows is a chronicle of two young men, the trials and tribulations they face at the hands of Mother Ocean and how their young lives are shaped.

Sarah has agreed to wait for Albert's return. When Albert ships out she is busy with the events of a normal land-locked life: her teaching position, helping her mother in the family store after her father's recent death, looking after her sister. It is only when she sits quietly that she allows herself to miss Albert. But as the weeks turn into months, Sarah questions her faithfulness to someone gone for such a long period. Can she truly love someone when they are absent from her life for long periods?

Drawing upon a family heritage of sea-going men, Kevin C. Mills speaks with authority on all things concerning shipboard life. The story, set in Mills' home state of Maine, draws on the rich legacy of the Down East area to bring to life this small segment of history.